Many food products are stored and shipped in lightweight plastic containers. Typically, a plastic container is constructed to facilitate automated packaging of the food products. The containers are typically designed to be shipped from a manufacturer in a stacked arrangement.
Because the container is intended to be used for shipping and display after packaging, it is desirable that the container, in some situations, be placed in a vertical or angled standing position. This is because the top surface of the container has a larger area than a side surface, and thus any branding materials applied to the container will have a larger display area. Some containers are designed to be placed in shelf display stand that is cooperatively shaped to receive a container and maintain the container in a vertically biased position. Other containers have base potions defining shaped volumes that taper to a reduced cross-sectional area near the top of the container when the container is placed in the vertical position so that a center of gravity of the container is position to bias the container in the vertical position. Still other containers have specially designed support structures that are separate from peripheral flanges and that support the container in a standing position.